Folded Steel
by Weapon of Choice
Summary: An old friend joins Jack and Will in an attempt to save Will from the hangman.Chp 8 Storms come and Drake straightens some things out.
1. Nova

Nova St. Cyr leaned back against the wall of the bar in her chair. A beer mug smashed the wall near her head. She irritably rolled her eyes and shot a withering look in the direction that the glass had come from.  
  
"Keep your drinks on the tables, boys, not the wall," she snarled as she finished her own drink. The smoke filled room was getting louder and louder as more raucous fights continued to break out.  
  
"Men," she grumbled as she slammed her mug down on the table. With one fluid movement she rose from her chair and shoved off an intoxicated combatant in one of the many fights. Port Royal certainly had no shortage of seedier hangouts for sailors and seamen. While not exactly Nova's first choice of company, the low end offered plenty of places to disappear to when the occasion called. It was easy to lose people who needed to be lost when necessary.  
  
Nova slid out the back and out into the narrow alley way behind the Trade Wind Tavern. Anyone looking casually would have seen nothing but a rather petite, auburn haired woman wearing men's clothing. Anyone looking closely would have noticed a long sword and dagger hanging at her side and the smooth movements of a fighter. At twenty-two, Nova was deceptively adept at dispatching much larger opponents.  
  
After walking down the alleyway for some time, Nova suddenly slowed down her pace, listening to the person following behind her. Whoever it was had been trailing her since she left the tavern. She casually slid into the shadows of the wall and waited for her pursuer. As the shape passed her, she spun away from the wall and held her sword in an attack position.  
  
"Really love, that's no way to treat an old friend," said a raspy, low voice.  
  
Nova's face broke into a slightly exasperated, yet very pleased smile.  
  
"Jack, I could have killed you."  
  
The enigmatic pirate captain turned around and faced the young woman behind him.  
  
"But I know you Nova. You'd never stab a man in the back."  
  
Nova sighed and resheathed her sword.  
  
"What do you want Jack? I really have nothing to offer that you'd be interested in."  
  
The dark eyed pirate gave the small woman an appraising look.  
  
"I need your help love. Actually, someone we both know needs your help. I need all the trustworthy fighters I can find. That means you, me and Will Turner. As it would happen, he's the one we're helping."  
  
"What's he done now?" Nova grumbled. 


	2. The Situation

Captain Jack Sparrow looked at the woman sitting across from him. He had a fine eye for women when it came down to it. The woman sitting across from him was not something that would catch his eye in any circumstance. She was a little too pale, her nose a little too pugged in, her hair a bit lackluster, and her facial features a bit too severe. Jack wasn't even about to consider the thin scar that slashed over her left eye. No, this woman wasn't pretty at all, maybe with the right effects she could be a handsome woman, but there was nothing about her now that made him hope for much.  
  
Nova, for her part, didn't really care what Jack thought. She'd known him for forever it felt like. As long as she'd been a smuggler, she'd known she had an ally in Captain Jack Sparrow. When he deigned to show up, that was. Those times were few and far between, though now that he had the Black Pearl again, he had a tendency to pop up more often.  
  
"So what did he do now?" Nova questioned as she drank another glass of rum.  
  
Jack smiled at the young woman and rubbed his face thoughtfully.  
  
"What makes you so certain that he did anything?"  
  
Nova smiled conspiratorially.  
  
"You know that our dear William does nothing with much thought or planning except for his romantic notions," she said with a smile.  
  
Jack chuckled into his glass.  
  
"He didn't really mean to do it this time," Jack said blandly.  
  
"Does he ever?"  
  
"It seems lovely Elizabeth caught the eye of some less than desirable gentlemen and to defend her honor, Will managed to kill one."  
  
Nova's eyes widened and then she dropped her head into her hands.  
  
"Ye gods," she muttered.  
  
"Unfortunately our dear Will killed a man who was very affluent. Lord Pennington's family not terrible thrilled to lose one of their favorite sons. Daniel Pennington was the second oldest son. As we speak, Will is languishing in the very same Port Royal jail I did."  
  
"What do we do?" Nova said, her dark gray eyes flashing with more determination than Jack had seen out of her since their meeting.  
  
"We get him out," Jack said with a devilish smile.  
  
"And then what, send him and Elizabeth out to a life on the run?" Nova snorted.  
  
"No, there's a story about that one little trinket you're wearing that might change our fortunes as it were," Jack said, looking over the top of his glass evilly. 


	3. Devil's Keep

"What?" Nova said with widened eyes, "Nothing I own is that valuable. I don't have anything anyone wants."  
  
Jack reached over the table and took one of the young woman's hands and yanked the sleeve of her shirt up slightly. There on her arm, wrapped around her wrist was a gold snake bracelet, its emerald eyes flashing in the light.  
  
"That little trinket is a lot more interesting than it's normal market value would suggest," Jack said with half a smile.  
  
"You have my attention," Nova said, leaning back.  
  
"You happen to have the key to a very interesting treasure right here," he said, "it seems that this little serpent opens the Devil's Keep."  
  
Nova looked curiously at the deceptively plain jewel on her wrist.  
  
"That's a legend, Jack. There is no Devil's Keep. People have died trying to find it and there's still no proof that it exists."  
  
"But they didn't have the key, love. You do. And there in lies our predicament. If we get the Devil's Keep, we have a fair chance of getting darling William out of his current situation. You see, Lord Pennington knows his son was degenerate; he'd disowned him for the same reasons. He also knows Will was in the right. Right now he's simply lashing out at him. Now if we can buy Will's freedom it's going to be with the Devil's Keep. Pennington has been interested in that treasure for as long as I can remember. He doesn't know where the key is. Luckily, we do."  
  
"If I remember my treasure lore, the Devil's Keep wasn't a normal cache," Nova said thoughtfully, "it was a weapon of incredible power capable of unleashing the Apocalypse if in the wrong hands."  
  
"That's the way the story goes, yes."  
  
"What are we going to do with it Jack? Should he have it?"  
  
"That all depends on what it actually is," the pirate said unconcernedly, "there is the strong possibility that it won't be anything more than your normal pirate treasure."  
  
"And we need Will," Nova said, "I bet that's part of our little treasure run bargain."  
  
"Of course," Jack said with a smile.  
  
He looked at the snake again closely.  
  
"Where did you get that thing?"  
  
"A man traded it for rum," Nova replied, "no telling where he got it and there's nothing that will keep a man from his liquor."  
  
"True enough," Jack said, "and we're about to trade it for a man's life." 


	4. Old Friends

Nova stared at the man in the cell across from her. Will Turner looked small and completely forlorn, like a caged animal that's spirit was all but broken. Nova had known Will for forever it seemed like. They had befriended each other when he showed up in Port Royal. Both had gone their separate ways as they had grown older, Will to be apprenticed to a blacksmith, Nova to the seamier side working as a smuggler's contact and eventually becoming one of the foremost smuggling powers in Port Royal. If it was illegal, Nova probably knew something about it.  
  
Still, in spite of everything, Nova felt a fierce protectiveness for Will, her one close friend. Seeing him unjustly locked in a prison cell was enough to aggravate Nova to a point of wanting to shoot someone.  
  
"He attacked Elizabeth," Will said sullenly.  
  
"I've no doubting that," Nova said blandly, "you only did what you had to do."  
  
Will looked up gratefully at his old friend.  
  
"You think Jack can get me out of here?" he asked quietly.  
  
"I think Lord Pennington is more than willing to trade his son for the Devil's Keep," Nova said with a great amount of disgust, "it's completely unseemly to be willing to give your son, degenerate or not, for some mythical pirate treasure."  
  
Will nodded, "You think it's actually there?"  
  
Nova made a face and leaned against the wall.  
  
"I think there might be something there. Jack thinks there might be something there. As to what it actually is, I think neither of us have a clue."  
  
"You think they'll let me out?" Will asked, a slight amount of hope creeping into his voice.  
  
"I think since you have ties to the governor and since they know the whole incident was justified, if I can offer a trade, Pennington will be willing to take the bait. For obvious reasons Jack can't show himself around the decent, law abiding people until we actually get out of Port Royal. We don't need him in the cell with you. As for me, I might be shady, but they can't place definite blame on me."  
  
Nova smiled ruefully, "Who would think a woman that competent after all?"  
  
Will smiled.  
  
"You're more than competent, Nova. If I trust anyone in this matter, it's you."  
  
Will suddenly looked melancholy again.  
  
"I miss Elizabeth," he said quietly.  
  
Nova gave a half smile and reached through the bars of Will's cell.  
  
"We'll get you back to her," she said confidently, "but right now we need to concentrate on striking a deal with Pennington and getting you out of here."  
  
Still hanging on to Nova's hand, Will impulsively pulled her to himself and hugged her through the bars.  
  
"Thank you," he said.  
  
Nova smiled, pulling away from her friend and silently melting into the shadows of the jail. 


	5. An Accord Is Made

Nova glared up threateningly at Lord Pennington. He might have been very used to getting his way, but then again, so was Nova. The fact that one of her favorite friends was involved did nothing but harden her resolve.  
  
"So you're saying you can get into the Devil's Keep," an obviously interested Pennington questioned, "and you can bring out whatever is in there?"  
  
"I'm telling you that I can get in. Whether I can get out or not is another issue entirely."  
  
Pennington stared at the small woman. He did not want to deal with a woman, but he didn't seem to have a choice.  
  
"It's me or no one," Nova said unconcernedly, "it just depends how much you want that treasure."  
  
And how much you think your son is worth, Nova added to herself.  
  
Pennington pondered for a moment then leaned over the table.  
  
"The terms are such. You and whatever crew you need get me that treasure. If you don't bring it to me, Will Turner will be hanged. Succeed and we will consider all penalty void from him."  
  
"He's coming with me," Nova said blandly, "or there's no deal."  
  
"Never," Pennington sputtered, "there is nothing to say the minute we turn him loose that he won't run."  
  
"You forget the woman he killed for," Nova said coyly, twisting a ring on her finger around, "he's not going to run because she's still here."  
  
"Who's to say she won't run with him?"  
  
Nova looked Pennington straight in the eye.  
  
"Then you send insurance," she said.  
  
Pennington reared back and thought a moment.  
  
"My son," he said, "if Will Turner is going, so is my oldest son. He will report any and everything that happens aboard your ship."  
  
"Agreed," Nova said with a nod, "granted he understands that some of my men are going to be less than forthcoming about their employment or loyalties."  
  
Pennington nodded.  
  
"Drake will do as I tell him," he said, "he is merely along to insure that things go according to plan."  
  
"And he will stay out of me and my captain's way," Nova said with a hint of a threat.  
  
"He'll do as he's told," Pennington assured.  
  
With a decisive motion, Pennington rang a bell. Shortly a young man of about twenty-five stood in the doorway.  
  
"Father?" he questioned.  
  
"You will be accompanying Miss St. Cyr and her crew on a mission," Pennington said.  
  
A spark seemed to pass through Drake Pennington's icy blue eyes, but he said nothing and bowed shortly, turning on his heel and leaving the room.  
  
"Then we have an accord, Lord Pennington," Nova said, standing to leave.  
  
She raised an eyebrow at the shadowy figure of the oldest Pennington heir standing in the archway as she left.  
  
"You might have more trouble keeping young Drake under control than you think, Your Grace," Nova muttered to herself. 


	6. Under Way

Nova cautiously looked over the ship they were sailing on. For a smuggler, she was not much accustomed to sailing or the ocean. In fact, she wasn't extremely comfortable in the water. She had known Jack for as long as she could remember, and had lived in Port Royal even longer than that, but she had never really liked the water. She suppressed a small shudder as she backed away from the rail and moved farther toward the center of the ship.  
  
"She's nothing like The Morning Star," Jack said as Nova moved towards him, referring to the ship Nova owned and had used for smuggling runs. He lovingly looked at the helm of the Black Pearl. Nova smiled at the man who could be so manipulative and conniving, yet was seriously in love with his ship. She seriously doubted any woman could have a hold on his heart like the Black Pearl did.  
  
"How exactly do we know where this charming cursed treasure is," Nova asked, picking up a compass and giving it a perfunctory look.  
  
"Your little trinket seems to have something to do with that," Jack said, holding his hand out to Nova. She handed him the cobra bracelet. He carefully placed the jewel on the top of one of his maps. The map, which had beforehand had looked like complete gibberish, suddenly had a definite design to it. The map was actually shaped like a snake.  
  
"Where did you get that?" she asked.  
  
"Best to not know," Jack said conspiratorially.  
  
Nova rolled her eyes and moved to the rail of the ship again. Down below on the dock Will was embracing a tearful Elizabeth. Will looked a shade tearful himself from where Nova stood. With one last kiss and a longing caress to her face, he seemed to gather his resolve and without looking back, boarded the Pearl.  
  
"We need to leave," Nova said, spinning away from the rail. The cause of her sudden urgency was the Royal Navy casually moving down the docks inspecting the ships.  
  
"Jack," Will said quietly to Nova, understanding her meaning completely. If those marines caught the slightest hint that Captain Jack Sparrow, wanted in many ports, was here, they'd be trying to get their captain out of the hangman's noose as well.  
  
"If Drake Pennington doesn't get here soon, we're having to leave without him," Nova said.  
  
They could both see Jack looking over at them with some concern as they stood there.  
  
"Start letting out sail," Nova said decisively. If the heir to the Pennington estate didn't make it there soon, there were just going to have to take their chances without him.  
  
As soon as the words left her mouth, the man in question came striding up the ramp like he owned the ship.  
  
"You're late," Nova snarled in his direction. Pennington's eyebrows shot up at the evident hostility in her tone. He had probably never been addressed in that fashion by a woman.  
  
"I'm here," he said, his voice assuming a haughty tone.  
  
"I'll have you know, Drake," Nova said, letting her accent drag in a demeaning way over his familiar name instead of his title, "on this ship you answer to Jack Sparrow. If Jack is not in the vicinity, you answer to me or Will. You have no authority on this ship and you'd do well to remember that."  
  
Will raised an eyebrow at the heated exchange. This was part of the reason he had always loved being friends with Nova St. Cyr. She was one of the few women who would never be cowed by a man.  
  
"We'll see who does what, Miss St. Cyr," Drake said, seeming to completely retain his calm.  
  
With that, the two obviously solid wills glared at each other while the Black Pearl quietly slipped out of the harbor. 


	7. Will's Musing

Two weeks on a ship would normally have been enjoyable for Will Turner, who had always been drawn to the sea. Maybe it was something in his blood that made him enjoy the salty tang of the open ocean so much. But this time, the confines of the ship felt almost as constricting as the walls of the prison cell he had been in.  
  
His tenseness had two major cornerstones. The first being that he was not with the woman he loved even though he was essentially free. Will wanted nothing more than to be back in Port Royal with Elizabeth. He felt that the two of them had been subjugated to far too many adventures as it was in their relationship, and he heavily resented this one. He was about to be married to the woman if he had anything to do with it, and this had not been part of his plans.  
  
The second cornerstone was a little more concrete and close to home. Drake Pennington was driving him insane. While the blond haired aristocrat basically kept to himself, Will found his entire presence an annoyance. Drake always seemed to be watching him with something akin to malice in his eyes. While Will understood the uncomfortable tension was deserved since he had had to kill Drake's brother, it still made Will feel wary and also assaulted him with waves of fresh guilt. He had never meant to kill the younger Pennington. It was something he was going to regret until the day he died. He could still see the shocked look on Daniel Pennington's face when he knew he was going to die. Under all the training and fearlessness, Will had a soft heart. He wouldn't have wished that kind of death on his worst enemy if he had the choice, but at the time he didn't.  
  
Drake did seem to have some sort of a liking for Nova, Will had noticed. He tended to shadow her to a degree that he wouldn't the other members of the crew. While there was nothing about Drake to suggest anything of his younger brother, Will was still concerned about the nobleman's relationship with his friend. Not that Nova wouldn't be averse to letting Drake have it if she needed to. There was a toughness about the woman that Will had never seen before.  
  
Nova herself seemed more irritated by Drake's presence than anything. He had imprisoned her friend in her mind, and that sort of thing wasn't going to be easily forgotten or forgiven.  
  
And then there was the Devil's Keep. Will couldn't seem to figure out about this treasure for the life of him. All the stories seemed so vague and mythical. Bringing about the Apocalypse and causing the loss of countless lives didn't seem to be the sort of treasure anyone would want to look for, but here they were, in the middle of the ocean, on their way to brave death and peril to try and find it.  
  
Will parted from his musings when he was joined at the rail by Jack Sparrow.  
  
"I can tell you don't like this, lad," Jack said with his characteristic devil may care attitude.  
  
"I just don't like not knowing what we're getting into," Will said with a sigh.  
  
Jack smiled sardonically.  
  
"You've faced walking, deathless skeletons, son," he said, "an Apocalypse would seem right up your alley."  
  
Will gave Jack a rueful look.  
  
"I did all that for Elizabeth."  
  
"And your going to do it again," Jack said with a nod as he turned around, "not sure all that love bit is worth it."  
  
Will watched his friend walk back to the helm with an indulgent smile. Someday Jack would feel the same way about a woman. Until then, judging from Nova's hostility towards the opposite sex, Will was doomed to be the romantic of the group. 


	8. Storm Warning

"There's going to be a storm," Jack said as he came up behind a pensive looking Nova. Her long hair had been twisted up into a knot on the top of her head that seemed to be held there by two metal pins. Something Jack assumed she'd picked up in the Orient.  
  
Nova sighed.  
  
"Why not," she muttered, "everything else about this trip seemed doomed from the beginning."  
  
Jack leaned against the railing of his ship and rubbed his face. It was getting to be a long voyage and he knew Nova wasn't particularly thrilled with the ocean.  
  
"We're prepared," he added, "we shouldn't have any trouble."  
  
Nova let out a very unladylike snort.  
  
"When have you ever NOT been in trouble," Nova said skeptically as she turned to go below deck.  
  
Jack simply shook his head as he watched her disappear beneath the deck.  
  
Nova dropped down at a worn table and let her head fall in her hands. This voyage was too long and since she was little she had had an intense fear of water. She wasn't meant to be on a ship, she was just a liaison for questionable goods. Will was the only reason she had even agreed to go. Wielding a sword with any talent and braving the high seas were two very different things in Nova's book. Namely one she could do and the other she couldn't.  
  
There was the scraping of a chair being pulled out and the sound of someone sitting down across from her.  
  
"We getting to land any time soon?" a deep, surprisingly soft voice asked.  
  
"Not before the storm comes," Nova said, looking up at the ice blue eyes across from her. There was no getting around the fact that she had started to find Drake attractive in his own way. She never expected anything to come of it, but it didn't hurt to look.  
  
"Storm?" Drake questioned.  
  
"You have no clue about sailing, do you?" Nova asked.  
  
"Not much," Drake admitted, "my brother was the one who knew all about that. I normally kept to the family paper work."  
  
Drake looked at Nova through his lashes.  
  
"I don't really blame your friend," he said, "my brother was quite bent on following a path of destruction. My father could never see it though."  
  
"Still doesn't mean that you didn't love him," Nova said.  
  
"Yes, I did," Drake agreed, "but I couldn't stop him from getting into trouble and I couldn't keep him from destroying himself."  
  
Nova stood up and put a hand on Drake's shoulder.  
  
"It wasn't your job," she said, "you did what you could."  
  
Drake himself rose from the table.  
  
"I'd better do what I can to help for this storm, then," he said.  
  
"It'd be better if we all just strap everything down," Nova muttered.  
  
"I've never been through a big storm before," Drake said as he started to leave.  
  
"I have," Nova said ominously. 


End file.
